Camping Out
by Catalog Cats
Summary: The team goes to investigate reports of ghostly activity at a campground. Bad luck and hijinks ensue.
1. Chapter 1

_Some camping trip shenanigans to keep you all amused. May or may not be updated sometime before the heat death of the universe. Almost all events unfortunately based on personal experience._

* * *

"Hey kid, catch!"

John ducked automatically at those words, and a rolled-up tarp sailed above his head. On the other side of the room, Yasuhara caught it, grinned, and flung it back.

"There's no more room in my backpack. You take it."

Monk made a face at him. "Sure, push everything off on me." But there was a happy gleam in his eyes as he turned around and began shoving the tarp into his own pack.

"Monk, quit fooling around!" Mai called from among a pile of food on the other side of the room. "Naru says that if we forget anything we won't be able to go back for it. Don't make us regret inviting you along!"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, I've got everything." Monk forced the zipper on his pack closed with some difficulty, and heaved it off the ground. He began the trek down the stairs to his car, mumbling the whole way.

John resisted the urge to cover his face and sigh. Takigawa's pride was very sensitive, and he was still stinging from the revelation that no exorcisms would be necessary on this case. They were going up to a small campground in the mountains, and their purpose was merely to confirm or debunk rumors of ghostly activity. The owners of the campground wanted to use the presence of spirits as a selling point, so they were not to chase the spirits away unless they posed an immediate threat.

Technically they only needed a small amount of Naru's equipment, along with Masako's abilities as a medium, in order to deal with this case. In fact, it was such a simple case that John suspected Mai had twisted Naru's arm into accepting it, the same way she had convinced him to invite the whole group of them. She thought the idea of a camping trip sounded fun, and she was throwing herself into the preparations despite Naru's repeated warnings that they would be there to work and slacking off on the job would not be tolerated.

John would feel more comfortable if there were cabins they could stay in. He didn't mind not having electricity, but he was very suspicious of the abilities of tents to keep animals out. Takigawa and Yasuhara had promised to evict any uninvited guests, but that wasn't exactly a comforting promise. Besides, this was the time of year when the weather was unpredictable, and he didn't relish the thought of sleeping outside in the rain with only a flimsy canvas between him and the outside.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by a tap on his shoulder. "John, are you ready to go?" It was Mai, giving him a funny look. "Everyone else is already down by the cars."

John jumped to his feet, nodding hastily and struggling into his backpack. Once he had it on, he nearly toppled over. The downside of their destination was that there was no way to get the cars all the way up to the campsite, which meant that they had to carry all their food and water with them. Which meant that the backpacks were very heavy. He had no idea how Takigawa had managed to make lifting his seem so effortless.

He staggered out the door and crept slowly down the stairs, clinging onto the handrail with a death grip. Somehow, he managed to make it down to the cars without falling and killing himself. There, he learned that they had run out of space in the equipment van, so his backpack would have to go in Takigawa's car. And since Yasuhara's backpack was already taking up the trunk, John's pack would have to go into the backseat. This didn't make the already-cramped vehicle any more comfortable.

* * *

"Mai, move over! You're squishing John, and he's squishing me!" Ayako snapped.

"_You_ move over!" came the reply. John didn't have to look to know that Mai would be glaring daggers at Ayako over his shoulder. "I'm up against the window here! How come Yasuhara gets the front seat?"

"Because I called it." Yasuhara turned around and smiled cheerfully at them, making sure to stretch his legs out to emphasize how much more space he had. "And because I'm bribing the driver."

Takigawa slid into the driver's seat. "What about me?" He started the car and they took off after the van.

John shrunk back against his seat as Mai and Ayako began complaining loudy on both sides of him, accusing Takigawa of favoritism and pointing out, very loudly, that "He got the front seat _last_ time!" It reminded him of nothing so much as a field trip with a bunch of third-graders. He closed his eyes, wishing he were somewhere else and doing his best not to touch either of them. Were they _there_ yet?

As the car reached the highway and it became clear that no amount of complaining would change the seating arrangements, eventually they did settle down. Even Mai couldn't keep up a high energy level on a five hour drive. John leaned his head back and looked for patterns in the cracks on the ceiling of the car as they sped down the road.

Sometime around noon, John looked around and realized that he was the only passenger in the car who was not slumped against the nearest available surface, fast asleep. They had fallen behind the van some time ago, so the only noises were the occasional buzzes of Takigawa's phone as Lin sent him reminders about where to turn, or occasional alerts about roadwork and traffic.

Takigawa was reading one of those messages as John looked around to try and get his bearings. He caught John's eyes in the rear-view mirror and muttered "Masako was feeling carsick, so they've stopped at a gas station about ten miles down the road. Lin thinks it might be a good place to stop for lunch."

John copied his quiet tone. "Sounds good, but I hate to have to wake them up." He looked around at his sleeping friends. "Everybody's had a rough week, and they're tired."

He didn't know just when he had become the unofficial group therapist, but over the past few months he had found himself meeting with his friends more and more for coffee or lunch, and during that time he would somehow hear about all the problems in their lives. So he knew that Mai and Yasuhara had been struggling with exams, Ayako was stressed out about her work at the hospital, Masako was bickering with her mother, and Takigawa's band was in a creative slump.

In fact, it was partially thanks to him that they had this time to get away for a while. He had happened to be in the office when Mai had been arguing with Naru about inviting everyone, and he had taken her side because he'd thought it might be a nice idea.

* * *

Two hours later, gasping his way up a hill with a backpack that probably weighed almost as much as he did, he was beginning to regret that decision. The hike wasn't supposed to be very long, but he had already fallen far behind the group and was beginning to get worried. The sun set earlier in the mountains, and the light was already beginning to fail. What would he do if he came to a fork in the road? He didn't know where they were, it would be very easy to get lost out here. And the path was covered with little stones that slid about under his feet. What would happen if he fell and hurt himself? How long would they wait before turning back to check on him?

He didn't have to wait long to have that question answered, as Takigawa came bounding back down the trail. "Hey John! We were worried you'd been eaten by a bear." He was obviously kidding, but John wasn't really in the mood for jokes. _Were_ there bears out here? He thought he might cry if he found out the answer to that question, so instead he asked the other question on his mind.

"You reached the campsite already?"

"We've been there for twenty minutes." Takigawa clapped John on the shoulder. "Come on, it's not much farther. I can take your pack if you want."

John dropped his backpack, sighing with relief. He'd never hear the end of it from Ayako, of course, but the straps were starting to dig into his shoulders. He was sure they were going to bruise.

When they reached the campsite, they were greeted by the sight of two tents already pitched and Yasuhara sitting by the last empty spot, tossing a stone to himself. Takigawa set John's pack down, muttering under his breath, then stood up and called "Hey kid! I thought I told you to start setting up the tent!"

"You did," Yasuhara agreed, nodding amiably. "But I couldn't, because John has it."

John felt a cold chill go down his spine. He looked back and forth between the two of them and gulped.

"No I don't."

* * *

_Yep, this stinks. As always, if you actually read all that I sincerely apologize for wasting your time._


	2. Chapter 2

_A bit shorter than the previous chapter, but really it's amazing this got written at all. Don't expect me to make a habit of this whole "writing new chapters" thing._

_Oh by the way, I got an anonymous on the last chapter asking me to make this a Mai/Naru story. The answer is no. There's like a million Mai/Naru stories, go read one of those. Shipping is not the point of this story._

_That said, my ship is probably showing, so that sort of makes me a hypocrite. Too sleepy to care. Good night._

* * *

There was a short pause and then Mai burst into laughter, leaning against one of the picnic tables for support.

"You _forgot_ your tent?" she gasped out. "After I warned you _how_ many times to make sure you had everything?"

Ayako was snickering too at this point, and Masako looked like she was hiding a grin behind her sleeve. Naru and Lin were setting up some equipment and diligently ignoring everyone. Yasuhara felt a sudden need to defend himself.

"It wasn't my fault," he said. "I was distracted." He pointed at Takigawa. "He was throwing things at me."

"Are you saying this is _my_ fault?" Takigawa asked, his face slowly reddening. "It was _your_ tent!"

"Yeah, and I told you I didn't have room for anything else! You said you had everything!" Yasuhara suddenly became aware that he was yelling and abruptly stopped, turning to face away.

He heard Takigawa draw breath behind him, probably for another argument, but he was interrupted by a loud clap. Naru was standing next to their equipment, arms folded, looking dangerously annoyed at having had to draw everyone's attention.

"Oh, come on Naru!" Takigawa whined. "You can't possibly expect us to focus on work right now, we need to figure out what we're going to do without our tent!"

"That doesn't concern me," Naru replied. "You can figure it out on your own time." Ignoring Takigawa's muttered protests, he motioned to the equipment on the table. "This is all we could carry up with us. There are several microphones and sensors for tempurature and electromagnetic activity. We don't have a computer to record the data for us, so we need one person to monitor the sensors at all times. This person will record readings in a notebook every fifteen minutes, and if there are any drastic changes at any time Lin or I will need to be alerted. There are eight of us, so if we take it in two-hour shifts, everyone should be able to get a good night's sleep."

"I'll go first," Yasuhara said quickly, eager for any excuse to get away from Takigawa, who was still glaring daggers at him, and John, who looked like he might cry. It _was not his fault_, so why did they have to make him feel guilty?

It had seemed like a reasonable plan at the time, but the two hours soon began to drag on until he was sure he would die of sheer boredom. None of the equipment registered the slightest change, and the pen that Lin had given him to record the readings with was faulty, and only worked correctly when it was moving in a clockwise arc. Takigawa and John had commandeered a spare ground tarp and strung it up between two trees. It looked like the smallest amount of wind could blow it over, but at least if it rained most of the water would be redirected elsewhere.

Yasuhara scratched at the table with a small twig he'd picked up as he thought. John didn't seem to be angry with him, which was good, but Takigawa was obviously still upset. He would pointedly turn away and start fiddling with the ropes holding the tarp up every time Yasuhara tried to catch his eye. It was probably because he had yelled at him earlier. Or maybe it was because he hadn't helped set the tarp up. Yasuhara put his head down on folded arms with a dejected sigh. This whole friendship business was _hard_.

Mai was passing by as he sighed, and gave him a curious look. He nodded toward the sensors and rolled his eyes. Mai always got very wrapped up in trying to solve everyone's problems for them, and he didn't think it was strictly necessary here. He was sure Takigawa would be calm again by dinner time. Mai gave him an encouraging smile, and held out her watch. "You're done in half an hour," she informed him, "and then Lin is taking over for a while."

He had been wrong, Takigawa was still upset at dinner, although Yasuhara thought it might have been more a product of the cold than anything else. Everyone was wearing at least three layers of clothing, and there was very little conversation as they ate. The food had gone cold almost immediately, and Yasuhara shuddered as he swallowed the last bite.

He could see John looking up anxiously at the clouds that still covered the sky, and gave him a quick pat on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it'll clear up soon." He wished he could entirely believe it, but with the way that the trip had been going so far, rain would not surprise him.

Walking to their shelter, he kept his hands stuffed in his pockets to try to warm up his fingers. He had his coat zipped up almost all the way to his face, and his breath was fogging up his glasses. As they approached the tarp, Takigawa fell back to walk next to him and gruffly said "Watch out for the rope, kid. It stretches out kinda far."

"What ro-ARGH!"

Yasuhara fell over with a crash, Takigawa burst into laughter, and suddenly there was no more anger. Takigawa leaned down and helped him up. "That one. Come on, let's get inside before we freeze to death."

* * *

When they crawled inside, John was already curled up in his sleeping bag like some sort of gigantic caterpillar. Yasuhara could hear his teeth chattering through the fabric pulled up over his head. On the other side of the campsite, he could hear the girls chatting happily. Now, why couldn't they get along that well when other people were watching?

Struggling his way into his sleeping bag, he found that he was actually very glad John and Takigawa had tossed his bag into the center of the small space. The tarp was still an inch or two off the ground in several places, and the cold air from outside was blowing in. He felt John and Takigawa inching away from the gaps on either side of him, and gave them both warning kicks so that they would remember not to squish him. Feeling his sleeping bag warm up, he yawned and closed his eyes.

Some time later, Yasuhara was woken up when John, flailing around a bit in his sleep, kicked him in the shin. He yelped and scooted back as best he could, managing only to fall across Takigawa's stomach.

"_Ouch!_ What was that for?" Takigawa sat up and pushed Yasuhara off of him, rubbing at his shoulder where Yasuhara's head had landed.

"I'm sorry!" Yasuhara whispered back, making shushing motions. "John kicked me! But he's still asleep, so let's not wake him, okay?"

They fell silent as John muttered something before turning over. Yasuhara turned and grinned at Takigawa, knowing full well that it was too dark for Takigawa to really see it.

John talked in his sleep. It was something they had discovered a long time ago, during some other case, but it never seemed to stop being funny. Yasuhara lay back down and said, in a conversational tone, "Sorry John, I didn't quite catch that. Can you repeat it?"

For a moment there was no response, but then John mumbled "Have to keep them away from the tortoise..."

Behind Yasuhara, Takigawa settled back into his sleeping bag, snickering quietly. "What tortoise?" he asked, voice wavering from the effort to keep his laughter controlled.

"The one with the jewels on the shell."

Yasuhara snorted. That was a new one. He could feel Takigawa shaking with silent giggles next to him. Everything was always funnier at night, it seemed. "So this tortoise," he said. "What's so special about it that it has jewels on it?"

"...It's a piano."

And they lost it. Yasuhara's head fell into his arms and he shook with suppressed laughter. Takigawa muffled his laughter into Yasuhara's shoulder, tears streaming down his face as they both struggled to gasp for air _quietly._

Evidently it wasn't working, because suddenly there was a series of taps on the side of the tarp. It was Ayako. "Pipe down and go to sleep!" she hissed. "And wake John up, it's his turn to watch the sensors."

After John had stumbled bleary-eyed out of the shelter, Yasuhara stretched out contentedly. Once you got used to the cold, and the rocks on the ground, sleeping outside wasn't really so bad. He was just drifting off into the realm of sleepy, half-formed thoughts when suddenly, predictably, mayhem ensued over at the girls' tent.

* * *

_I was excited to write this, too. Wonder why. Half asleep at the moment, have been the whole evening, so it probably sucks even worse than usual. Thanks for reading if you read it, all four of you._


End file.
